Ghosting and using a KVM Switch to format 7 new Dells Computers

Beginner · Oct 4, 2005

hello guys, i need some help.

1. how to ghost on multiple drives.

2. doing the above on a 4 port kvm switch.

i've been doing pc trouble shooting, virus/spyware removal on all of my highschool stand alone desktops for teachers and admin office pc''s.

i helped my school purchase 7 dells(fully loaded dimension 3000's). my school also purchased an oem license for windows xp pro(dells come with xp home), microsoft office 2003.

the kvm i have has 4 ports. i figured it would be quicker to do 1 pc, then ghost the image to the remaining 6.

here's my problem, i dont know how to ghost or use a kvm switch. i only know about ghosting from reading threads here at ocforums.

the dells will be here 10/10/05, i wanted to get as much info as possible to learn and do this the most efficient method possible instead of formatting each pc individually.

your suggestions are highly appreciated

and thanks for looking.

kayson · Oct 5, 2005

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/winpreinst/opk.mspx

Check that out.

Beginner · Oct 5, 2005

kayson said:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/winpreinst/opk.mspx

Check that out.

thanks for the link, here's the two choices i think are best for what i'm trying to do.

1. Build-to-Plan
Image of master installation is deployed without customization to destination computers.

2. Build-to-Order
Image of master installation is deployed to destination computers, which are run in Factory mode and customized to order.

problem is it mentions 3rd party software but doesn't given the names of them?

ErikD · Oct 5, 2005

It is Microsoft software intended for system builders and those who work in the IT field and need to do exactly what you want to do. It also allows you to keep the EULA stuff intact so that whoever ends up using the computer for the first time will be able to read it and agree to it. That is important to Microsoft for legal reasons, but I am sure it doesn't really matter much for real world use.

If you have the ghost software just use that. Setup one computer in the base manner, basically with everything that you want all the PCs to have in common. Make an image of that drive, and install to the other PCs.

As for the KVM switch it is pretty simple really. You have one input for the monitor, keyboard and mouse, and four outputs. Connect the four computers, and you switch between them by using hot keys or an actual button/switch on the KVM switch itself depending on the model.

Beginner · Oct 5, 2005

ErikD said:
It is Microsoft software intended for system builders and those who work in the IT field and need to do exactly what you want to do. It also allows you to keep the EULA stuff intact so that whoever ends up using the computer for the first time will be able to read it and agree to it. That is important to Microsoft for legal reasons, but I am sure it doesn't really matter much for real world use.

If you have the ghost software just use that. Setup one computer in the base manner, basically with everything that you want all the PCs to have in common. Make an image of that drive, and install to the other PCs.

As for the KVM switch it is pretty simple really. You have one input for the monitor, keyboard and mouse, and four outputs. Connect the four computers, and you switch between them by using hot keys or an actual button/switch on the KVM switch itself depending on the model.

thanks

i don't have any ghost software yet, are there any freeware programs? my www.ultimatebootcd.com disk has the following utiltities -

Hard Disk Cloning
HDClone (Free Edition) 2.0
g4u 2.0
PC INSPECTOR clone maxx 0.95 Build 769
XXCOPY

is this similar to ghosting?

thanks again for your post

ErikD · Oct 5, 2005

To be perfectly honest with you I have never really done much with cloning to setup multiple systems. All of my systems are so different it wouldn't make much sense for me. I just happen to have that MS pack for system builders, but haven't really tried to see how it works yet.

My guess would be that buying a copy of Ghost would be your best bet. Basically it is pretty much the only prgram I read about using for that type of task. If the software on the UBCD was also as usable I am sure it would be well talked about. It is not just the process of making a copy of the HD, but also being able to load that image onto a different computer and having it work when done.

Beginner · Oct 6, 2005

thanks again erikd,

i hope somone can make a sticky on how to ghost images on hdd's. for now i'll see how much the software costs and see if my school will pay for it.

Beginner · Oct 7, 2005

i found someone with an oem disk of norton ghost 9. there's no manual or instructions for it what so ever.

i just want to perfrom an exact copy of a master image, and then image this copy to the other 6 dells.

your help is greatly appreciated

snvpa · Oct 7, 2005

ghost is really easy to use. I use it every day doing basically the same thing. All you need is to host the master image on a computer and connect into it from another. Make sure you use sysprep. Feel free to PM me with any questions or you can IM me. Its really not that difficult at all. using a KVM swith is fine. It woudl be best to have a server that you can use to his the image. This is the way I always do it. I'm sure you can clone directly from a HDD but I have no experience with that.

Beginner · Oct 8, 2005

snvpa said:
ghost is really easy to use. I use it every day doing basically the same thing. All you need is to host the master image on a computer and connect into it from another. Make sure you use sysprep. Feel free to PM me with any questions or you can IM me. Its really not that difficult at all. using a KVM swith is fine. It woudl be best to have a server that you can use to his the image. This is the way I always do it. I'm sure you can clone directly from a HDD but I have no experience with that.

snvpa thanks alot for your post

is it possible for you to post the procedure in here for other newbs like me

i did a search on ghosting and nothing came up, a sticky would be nice cause i know alot of us newbs are afraid to ask.

www.ultimatebootcd.com has the following utilities -
Hard Disk Cloning
HDClone (Free Edition) 2.0
g4u 2.0
PC INSPECTOR clone maxx 0.95 Build 769
XXCOPY

have you used any of these? i also did a websearch but it only lead to info. on what programs to buy.

thanks again

snvpa · Oct 8, 2005

I would be happy to make a guide. Let me know what you don't understand and I'll fill; in all the blanks. I have to assume that people undertakign this project understand basic concepts like tcp/ip and hosting files. Let me know what you want and I would be happy to make a pdf on how to do it. don;t ask the whole thing cause honestly if I have to go through all of sysprep, its gonna be a 30+ pg documntation. Im or PM me and I will post what you want in this thread. check oout the sysprep mini setup and bootable ghost disks and I'll fil in the gaps for ya. Believe me the knowledge is key to being a success in the IT industry.

Beginner · Oct 8, 2005

snvpa said:
I would be happy to make a guide. Let me know what you don't understand and I'll fill; in all the blanks. I have to assume that people undertakign this project understand basic concepts like tcp/ip and hosting files. Let me know what you want and I would be happy to make a pdf on how to do it. don;t ask the whole thing cause honestly if I have to go through all of sysprep, its gonna be a 30+ pg documntation. Im or PM me and I will post what you want in this thread. check oout the sysprep mini setup and bootable ghost disks and I'll fil in the gaps for ya. Believe me the knowledge is key to being a success in the IT industry.

doing the tcp/ip method is out of my league right now, i was trying to learn on how to make an image, burn it on a cd/dvd and install it onto the other same exact pc's.

it would be nice of the utitlities in ultimate boot cd do this. honestly i'm scared to even attempt to play around with it.

a sticky on how to make an image and put it to disc using freeware/s would be nice

the dells should be here this coming tuesday, i might just have to format one pc and play with the utilties on ubcd.

i haven't even used ubcd yet but i made a copy a couple of months ago when i was having xp partitioning problems with a 98 bootdisk.

funnyperson1 · Oct 8, 2005

At my work during the summer we imaged nearly 14 computers at a time. The easy way to do this would be to use Norton Ghostcast server and then connect each computer to the server and send, we could image 14 computers in like 15 minutes (not including time to hook up power and ehternet and boot off of dos bootdisk with net drivers).

Now since this seems to be a one time deal for you and you probably don't have ghostcast it would probably be easier to just make a Ghost boot disk, burn your image file onto a DVD and use the Ghost utility to image the drive with the one on the DVD. I'm not sure about the specifics, but if you install Ghost on the computer that you want to use the image of then doing all the stuff I detailed shouldn't be too hard.

Beginner · Oct 8, 2005

funnyperson1 said:
At my work during the summer we imaged nearly 14 computers at a time. The easy way to do this would be to use Norton Ghostcast server and then connect each computer to the server and send, we could image 14 computers in like 15 minutes (not including time to hook up power and ehternet and boot off of dos bootdisk with net drivers).

Now since this seems to be a one time deal for you and you probably don't have ghostcast it would probably be easier to just make a Ghost boot disk, burn your image file onto a DVD and use the Ghost utility to image the drive with the one on the DVD. I'm not sure about the specifics, but if you install Ghost on the computer that you want to use the image of then doing all the stuff I detailed shouldn't be too hard.

thanks for your post fp1,

do you know if the utilities on ultimate boot cd will work? the dells will be here this mon/tues/wed. i was hoping on making and image, burn it to dvd, then copy it to each pc.

i tried to find a tutorial or sticky but no forum or site has one according to my websearches.

a sticky regarding ghosting using freeware would be nice

Beginner · Oct 9, 2005

hey guys i played around with the "hd clone" in the dos version by just booting into dos and it looks pretty straight forward, i haven't actually made an image yet, still scared, i'm going to format a new drive and try it.

this is what i'm going to do, i only have one empty pata hdd. i don't want to use the one i currently have formatted cause i don't want to damage it.

1. format extra hdd
2. make image of that hdd with "hd clone" with the utility from dos version of www.ultimatebootcd.com
3. blank out the formatted extra hdd
4. copy image to it.

i hope this works, can any of you guys give me some last tips? i want to do it with freeware cause its free and the freeware version only allow you to make a copy of the whole hdd, not partitions. a whole copy of the hdd is exactly what i want to do.

lastly on the kvm switch, when i hook it up to the other dells, will dell need to install drivers to use it?

here's some links to the dos and windows versions of ultimate boot cd

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com
ultimate boot cd - dos version

http://www.ubcd4win.com/index.htm
ultimate boot cd - windows version

Beginner · Oct 9, 2005

guys, when i ghost to another hdd, do that drive being ghosted to need to be formatted or will the image do it automatically?

thanks

eddie

roYal · Oct 9, 2005

The image automatically formats the partition.

Beginner · Oct 19, 2005

ok guys, i've been working on cloning/ghosting these dells with no success.

i tried using a freeware call "hdclone". i overlooked that fact this it only works for win9x os's.

i had to format all of them manually which wasn't too bad cause i used a kvm swith which was pretty temperamental.

does anybody now of a freeware that will clone/ghost hdd's?

shadowdr · Oct 19, 2005

It is likely that it id the ubcd that is not NTFS compatible.You must use PC dos in order for the program to copy the hard drive.Did your Friend give you the Ghost disk? Making any of the programs work with NTFS including Ghost really is simple.Go here. Use the latest IBM dos boot image.It does not have the 9x limitation of the ms compatible disks.add the .exe to the disk or burn to a CD.I have been using an oem version of Ghost for years to do this.
You could also use the oem disk tools to make the image like Maxtors or WD's depending on who's disk they are.

Beginner · Oct 20, 2005

shadowdr said:
It is likely that it id the ubcd that is not NTFS compatible.You must use PC dos in order for the program to copy the hard drive.Did your Friend give you the Ghost disk? Making any of the programs work with NTFS including Ghost really is simple.Go here. Use the latest IBM dos boot image.It does not have the 9x limitation of the ms compatible disks.add the .exe to the disk or burn to a CD.I have been using an oem version of Ghost for years to do this.
You could also use the oem disk tools to make the image like Maxtors or WD's depending on who's disk they are.

thanks for your helpful post shadowdr,

they came with hitachi hdd's. i'm going to check out the link asap. my buddy wanted to charge me for using his cd and since i'm doing this for free, i didn't have the $ to pay.

there's no partitioning done to the hdd's, just a format, install needed drivers and that was it.

thanks again, i'll be doing some reading

Ghosting and using a KVM Switch to format 7 new Dells Computers

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